Pestering the Probie
by Ttime42
Summary: Tony's teasing of McGee is going a little too far. What's Gibbs gonna do about it? Warning-Spanking of an adult. Set in season 4. Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer: They're not mine, I'm just playing._**

_**This takes place very soon after season 4's "Twisted Sister."  
**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

"Probie." Tony was sitting at his desk, grinning across the bullpen at his partner, who was rolling his eyes. "Prooooobie. ProbieProbie—."

"What Tony? What?" Tim growled and turned away from what he was typing.

"Nothing."

Tim calmly turned back to his keyboard, ignoring his grinning partner.

"What'cha working on? Another book?"

"No." Tim said.

"You can call your next one, _The Astonishing Adventures of Agent Tommy_. I give you permission. Since, you know, you based all your characters on us anyway."

"I didn't base anything on you guys." Tim muttered.

"I, "Ziva said from her desk, "do not think Agent Tommy is an interesting enough character to carry his own story."

Tony glared at her for the subtle insult.

"Gear up." Gibbs rounded the corner of the bullpen and reached for his gun drawer.

"Got a body, boss?" McGee said cheerfully, eager to get away from his desk and out on the field where Tony, hopefully, would leave him alone about his books. Ever since that awful case where Sarah was suspected of murdering a sailor, Tony had been hassling him about his writing career.

Gibbs looked at him with an odd expression.

"Yeah, McGee, but don't let something like that spoil your chipper mood."

"I didn't mean it like—."

"Dead marine in a Woodbridge home. Staff Sergeant Dean Bradbury. His wife says he just appears to have dropped dead on their bed." Gibbs led the way to the elevator and his team hurried after him, but not before McGee saw Tony slip a copy of _Deep Six: The Continuing Adventures of L.J. Tibbs _into his backpack. The senior agent snickered and McGee had the feeling this would be a long day.

* * *

Tony whistled as they pulled up to a decadent Woodbridge mansion. A small brick turret poked out from the back of the two-story house with a three-car garage. A curving set of cobblestone steps led up to the double green front doors. Lush landscaping graced the front lawn where an in-ground sprinkler system watered the grass.

"How's a Staff Sergeant able to live in a place like this?" Tony asked.

"Good question. Let's find out."

Gibbs knocked on one of the green front doors, flashing his badge when a sniffling brunette-haired woman opened it. A sodden tissue was pressed to her face.

"Ms. Bradbury? I'm Special Agent Gibbs." He said. "These are Special Agents DiNozzo, McGee, and David."

More badges and IDs were flipped open and closed and Ms. Harriet Bradbury turned away. "Come in." She said, wiping the Kleenex across her nose. Gibbs sent Tim and Tony up to the bedroom to look at the body. Harriet offered Gibbs and Ziva a seat on the long comfy couch in the high-ceilinged living room.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Ziva asked quietly.

"I j-just…I came home from shopping, and he was dead!" She moaned. "I thought he was sleeping at first…so I went over to-to him and talked to him, and shook his sh-shoulder. He didn't move, so I called the police, and…" More tears poured from her eyes and Gibbs patiently passed her the tissue box.

* * *

Tim snapped a few photos of Staff Sergeant Bradbury, flat on his back on the couple's Queen sized four-poster bed. His black running shorts and white Tshirt didn't yield any bloodstains or other injuries. No look of pain soured his face, and his eyes were closed as if he was sleeping.

"He looks so peaceful." Tim mused, taking another picture. Tony looked away from his print-dusting and glanced at the corpse's face.

"For a stone-cold dead guy, yeah, Eddie McPoe."

"We'll know that for sure when I take his liver temperature, dear boy." Ducky wandered through the doorway with Jimmy Palmer schlepping bags and a gurney behind him.

"Hey Ducky." Tim mumbled.

"Hello lads. Who do we have here?"

Tony explained what they knew so far about the Bradburys.

"Hm," Ducky leaned over the corpse and checked for any obvious injury. "Well, the best thing for you would be to get to my autopsy table so we can find out what has happened, Staff Sergeant. Jimmy, liver probe, please."

"Bradbury, eh?" Tony said into Tim's ear as Gibbs and Ziva came into the room. "You have something in common with Ray, Timmy. Both of you write about stuff that's supposedly completely fictional…though didn't he base a lot of his things in reality too?"

"Stop!" Tim said. A silence fell over the room like a blanket and everyone turned to stare at the pair. Tim gulped, not having realized how loudly he'd spoken. "Sorry." He muttered to the stricken room.

"Tim," Gibbs said in a low voice. He stared at Tony, having no doubt he was the cause of the quiet agent's outburst. "Ride back with Ducky."

"Yes, boss." Tim passed his camera to Ziva and grabbed a couple heavy bags from Jimmy, following the medical examiners and the corpse down the stairs of the big house.

Gibbs stared at Tony for a few more moments, then strode over and slapped him smartly on the head.

Tony grunted, but didn't protest much.

"You've given McGee enough crap about his books." Gibbs said in a low tone. "Knock it off and focus on the case, DiNozzo."

"Yes, boss."

* * *

_**reviewing is your friend!**_


	2. Chapter 2

When they got back to the Navy Yard, Ducky insisted to Tim that they didn't need any more assistance.

"Why don't you go see if Abigail needs anything?" Ducky suggested. "Tell her I'll send Mr. Palmer when I have some samples."

Tim agreed, a little embarrassed at his enthusiasm at the thought of staying away from his team, and particularly Tony, for a while.

"McGee!" Abby said happily, bouncing into Tim's arms. He hugged her, then frowned at the computer which was showing the MS Paint screen containing several colorful doodles of bats and skulls and spiders in webs.

"Bored, Abby?" He asked.

"Just a little bit." She said wryly.

"You'll have some stuff pretty soon, Jimmy's gonna bring you some samples." He told her about the case.

"Oh, the mysterious death of a Staff Sergeant." Abby hummed, tapping her fingers together.

"Elflord!" They both jumped as Gibbs' face appeared in the little screen on Abby's desk. "Play time's over. Get back up here."

* * *

"What do we know so far?" Gibbs asked. The team was crowded around the plasma screen in the middle of the bullpen. An official headshot of the Staff Sergeant in his Marine uniform was shown on the television.

"Harriet Bradbury came home from shopping and found her husband dead in the bedroom." Ziva said. She flicked the remote and a photo of a smiling Harriet popped up. Tony rolled his tongue, making a purring noise.

"Damn what a looker. How'd she end up with a goofy looking guy like Bradbury?"

"Some people look for deeper things than physical characteristics, Tony." McGee said.

"Oh? "Characteristics? Is that one of your writing—."

"DiNozzo." Gibbs said. He gave him a pointed look.

"Sorry boss."

"Anyway," Ziva said, "the Staff Sergeant does not appear to have any injuries. Since he is healthy and fit and only 33 years old, suddenly dropping dead seems unlikely. We are waiting for Ducky and Abby's test results. Harriet last saw him alive this morning at around 0600. He was getting ready for a run."

"Tony." Gibbs strode back to his desk and looked at his computer screen. "Find out who else the Staff Sergeant had been with before he died."

"On it. Checking doctor appointments, friends, coworkers, etcetera, boss." Tony sat and grabbed his phone.

"McGee. Bank statements, see if—."

"—any unusual or suspicious purchases were made by Harriet or Dean, got it."

"Ziva, help Tony."

Gibbs got up and stalked to the elevator without a word.

The next ten minutes passed in relative quiet, with everyone studiously working on their assignments.

"I think," Tony said after hanging up the phone for the third time, "that's it's time for a break."

Tim's heart sank into his stomach as Tony reached into his bag and pulled out the copy of _Deep Six_. Tony opened the novel with a flourish of his hand.

"_Chapter 9_." He said in a deep, narrator-type voice. _"Agent MacGregor stood on the precipice of the hotel landing, his drug-addled brain swimming in and out of a hazy fog. Where had Santos, their suspect, gone?"_

"Tony…" McGee began, his ears going red. Tony continued reading aloud.

"_Down the stairs? Out the window? It was up to him now. With Agent Tommy and Agent Lisa still unconscious and cuffed in the room, there was no one left to apprehend Santos—the most feared drug lord on the Eastern seaboard—"_

"—Handcuffed in a room?" Tony said, letting the book fall into his lap. "Gettin' us into a little bedroom bondage there, probie?"

McGee was about to speak, but Gibbs appeared behind the partition behind Tony's desk. He calmly stared at the back of Tony's head, watching the senior agent be annoying. Tony continued talking, oblivious.

"You're certainly the hero in this part, McNom-de-plume." Tony flipped a few more pages, "where's old L.J. Tibbs while Ziva, er, sorry—_Lisa_ and _Tommy_ are locked up together? Getting coffee?" Tony chuckled at his own stupid joke, then froze. A familiar chilly stare seemed to be boring its way into the back of his skull. Tony gulped. Tim gave him a shiny, triumphant grin and turned back to his computer to keep digging into the bank statements.

"Uh, hey boss." Tony said, flinching. He shut the book with a quiet _thump._

"Tony." Gibbs said. "With me."

Tony set the book quietly on his desk. A small hiss of apprehension whistled through his teeth before he pushed his chair back and followed Gibbs to the mostly secluded area on the other side of the stairs that led up to Director Shepard's office.

"Didn't I tell you to stop bothering McGee?" Gibbs said, getting in Tony's space and glaring at him.

"Yes." Tony said in a small voice. Gibbs stepped forward and Tony stepped back until he bumped the corner where the two big orange walls met.

"So why aren't you stopping, DiNozzo?" Gibbs made sure to stay in Tony's space, ensuring that the younger man was trapped and forced to look at him.

There was a flicker of something in those hazel eyes that gave Gibbs the impression Tony wasn't just bugging McGee for his usual fun. This was getting a little beyond "fun" and venturing more into "bullying." A little teasing, a little ribbing from all of them was fine. They did stressful work and dealt with some pretty horrific things on a weekly basis, and if everyone was okay with some joking jabs now and then, Gibbs was hardly going to discourage them. But Tony's incessant digs at McGee were out of character, even for his impish personality.

"Won't happen again, Gibbs." Tony said, shaking his head.

"It better not." Gibbs got even closer if possible. "If it does, you're not gonna be sitting comfortably for the rest of the week. Got it?"

Tony's eyes widened as he realized what his boss meant by that threat. And he had no doubt that Gibbs would carry it out.

"Got it." He said.

Gibbs backed away and Tony got out of the corner. He scurried away with his tail between his legs when Gibbs pointed back towards the desks.

* * *

For the next couple days, not a word was said about _Deep Six_. Gibbs figured his threat about the whipping had finally done the job and gotten through to Tony, and cured whatever the hell had gotten into him. They discovered that Harriet Bradbury had married the Staff Sergeant not for his not-so-great looks, but for the multi-million dollars she would inherit from his will once he died. All directions were pointing to a classic DiNozzo-coined "the wife did it" case. The proof came in the form of a bank statement and a blood analysis.

"Bradbury was poisoned slowly over a period of days. With arsenic." Abby informed Team Gibbs as they circled the plasma in her lab. "His wife's been lacing his morning energy drinks with it."

"There's even a record of her buying the arsenic." McGee added smugly.

Gibbs looked back at them, pleased with their efficiency. "We need to get a—."

"Warrant." McGee handed over the piece of paper.

Gibbs took it and glanced it over.

"Good job, McGee." He said. He reached over and ruffled McGee's hair, drawing a satisfied smile on Tim's face as he basked in the praise Gibbs had chosen to give him in front of the team. Gibbs planted a kiss in Abby's hair and she beamed, slurping her fresh Caf-Pow! as her favorite team hurried to the garage.

* * *

Harriet squealed and squawked her way into the back of the car, screaming obscenities and insults at everyone she could see. She didn't quit when they got back to NCIS and manhandled her into the interrogation room, slamming the door and locking her in. Gibbs stormed back to his desk, fully intent on letting her "sit in there all damn day and night until she calmed the hell down."

Tony and McGee waited in observation, ready to give Gibbs the green light when she was fit for conversation. They each stared in silence at the enraged woman, her yells thankfully muffled in the dim observation room. The warm buzzing from the recording machines was the only other sound.

"So Tim, you ever read Dante?"

Tim shut his eyes, having totally forgotten about Tony's fixation on his books. He really, really wished Sarah had never mentioned them.

"DiNozzo, I'm begging you…"

"He was Italian you know. 'Abandon all hope all ye who enter here.'" He said in a scratchy voice.

"You know, Tony, I had no idea you knew so much about literature." Tim said, watching Harriet slump down at the table.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, probalicious…no, when my mom died, I got all her old books. Everything from cheap airport paperbacks to big-ass leatherbound doorstops. Hundreds of books…a whole library."

"Anything good?" Tim asked carefully, not wanting to unleash another volley of author-related insults.

"Oh yeah. Hemingway, Austen, Woolf, Twain, some first edition stuff from Poe."

"Really?" Tim put the binoculars down, genuinely curious.

"Yeah. There was a copy of _Much Ado About Nothing_ that looked really old. Have you heard of it, Probie?"

"Yes, Tony." McGee said patiently. "I'm familiar with most of Shakespeare's stuff."

"I got it appraised." Tony said, staring at Harriet, who now had her head in her hands. "The antique guy said he'd never seen anything like it. That it belongs in a museum."

"Did you donate it?"

"No." Tony said, "I could never give away my mom's stuff…"

Tim stayed quiet and stared at Harriet.

"Maybe in your next book you can add some sparkly vampires or child wizards." Tony said in a snarky tone. "Those seem to be all the rage now. But maybe that wouldn't fit your style. I mean, no one on the team's a vampire—except maybe Abbs—who would you base the character on?" He said sweetly.

"For the last time." Tim turned to him. "None of the characters are based on you guys! It's just a story about cops who work for a government agency."

"Just like we do."

"Who solve murders."

"Just like we do…hm…" Tony pretended to think. "And these completely fictional government-employed cops, they're led by a cranky boss, there's a hot exotic chick on the team, a brainiac nerd, and a suave, sexy very special agent Tommy. Yeah McGee, us and characters are like night and day."

Tim stared at him, spluttering with anger, when his phone rang.

"McGee!" He put it up to his ear, letting the sharp tone fly at whoever was on the end.

"_Is she ready to be interrogated yet?"_ The frustration and weariness in Ziva's voice made Tim wince. "_Gibbs is like an angry cat, hissing and growling at everyone up here—he is driving me up the hall!"_

"Yeah, she's ready." Tim said. He flipped the phone shut and he and Tony waited for Gibbs to get there.

* * *

The quiet of the bullpen was extremely welcome a few hours later. Gibbs was meeting with the director, Harriet Bradbury's shrieks would never echo the interrogation halls ever again, and the agents were typing their reports of the cut and dry case.

"Ha!" Tony said. He clicked his mouse a few times and the printer started cranking out his report. He grabbed the piece of paper and dropped it on Gibbs' clean desk, then returned to his chair. "I think we have time for one more break, don't you, McTwain?" Tony retrieved his copy of _Deep Six_ and McGee wilted.

"Uh, Tony," Ziva began, "do you really think you should—." Tony held up his hand and she shut her mouth, disgusted at his behavior of late towards his partner.

"Where were we?" Tony said. "Ah yes, right after the bedroom bondage scene." He launched back into the narrator voice.

"_Agent MacGregor bolted outside after Santos. The night was icy; his breaths appeared in puffs before his eyes. He ran his quickly freezing hands up and down his arms, clad only with the thin layer of his uniform jacket. How he wished for the warm knitted gloves Amy Sutton had given him last Christmas, but they were tucked away in the pocket of his other coat. Bells tolled from the distant church. Midnight. The clanging was ominous and a shriveling chill engulfed MacGregor's spine…"_

"Gettin' a little bit of Hemingway in there too I see. 'Ask not for whom the bell tolls,'—."

"It's tolling for you, DiNozzo." Gibbs' voice sounded behind him, and Tony jumped, his chair almost spinning out from underneath him.

"Boss!" The book slid to the ground and he grabbed it up, clutching it to his chest.

"With me." Gibbs growled. He strode briskly towards the conference room.

Tony looked, wide-eyed, at McGee. His partner was giving him a smile, waving good-bye. Tony frantically looked at Ziva. She was shaking her head.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs' bellow from the opposite side of the room was louder than all of Harriet's shrieks combined. Tony gulped and resolutely paced after his boss. Any more delaying would certainly not help his case.

* * *

Tony caught up with Gibbs as the man paced towards the conference room, empty at this time of night. Wordlessly, Gibbs pushed open the door, glaring at Tony until the younger man scurried past him and entered the room. He half expected Gibbs to start whacking his ass on the way in, he looked so pissed. He didn't. Gibbs followed and swung the door shut, locking it from the inside.

This could be bad.

"Tony." Gibbs' voice was surprisingly neutral as he grabbed a Dixie cup from on top of the water cooler and squeezed some pure-as-snow liquid into it. Tony watched him worriedly, realizing that he had backed himself into the corner of the room and an army of large leather chairs now stood between him and his boss.

Fine with him.

Gibbs set the cup on the table and poured another for himself. "Sit." Gibbs took a seat and sipped his water. Tony didn't move. This was way too easy. "It's not poisoned, sit down." Gibbs said firmly.

Tony crept over to the vacant chair in front of the water cup and sank into the plushy leather. He noticed his hands were still gripped around McGeek's book and he slipped it onto the shiny tabletop. Condensation from his nervously clammy palms had built up on the glossy cover.

"Anything you want to talk about?" Gibbs began.

Tony took a grateful sip of water, as all his saliva seemed to have been left at his desk.

"Um, I don't think so."

"I do." Gibbs said. "You've been ragging on McGee for weeks about his book. What gives?"

"Huh?" Tony looked up. "I don't know, boss…it's just, I mean—Probie? Writing a book?" Tony snickered and Gibbs just watched him.

"So?" He said. "Tim's an intelligent person. What's so strange about him writing a novel?"

"I mean, he's already got the geek thing going, not to mention the boy scout leader, now he's a writer? It's like he's just handing over boxes of ammo."

"Are you jealous of him?" Gibbs asked, taking another sip of his water.

"Jealous?" Tony repeated, blinking. "Of McGoo?" He snorted and looked away, staring at _Deep Six_'s red and white cover with the words 'New York Times Bestseller' on the top. "What's to be jealous about?"

"Everything you just listed." Gibbs said patiently. "Tony, I don't look at Tim differently now that I know he's penned a couple bestsellers. Hell, with his attention to detail and focus, I'm not surprised he did it. I'm proud of him. And I'm proud of _everyone_ on myteam. You should be too."

When Tony didn't answer, Gibbs knew he'd gotten to the root of the problem. "Tim's not gonna take your job, Tony."

"I know that."

"Good. Part of being a good leader isn't just about pushing your people as hard as you can until they do their best. A little praise can go a long way too. You know something about that."

Tony's lips quirked in a grin. "I guess."

"You're an excellent agent. You don't need to go out of your way to build yourself up by putting your partner down. You're better than that, Tony." Gibbs said gently.

Tony just nodded.

"Glad you understand. It'll make the whipping easier on both of us."

Tony looked up sharply.

"Boss, come on!"

"No. You're _not _getting out of this. You've been an insufferable ass ever since Sarah let slip that McGee was a writer—."

He was interrupted by a shrill ring from his cell phone. Cursing, he tore it out of his pocket and rolled his eyes at the screen.

Flipping it open, he yelled, "What, Jen!"

Tony jumped, staring at his boss in slight awe. If Gibbs didn't correct his tone, he might find himself on the receiving end of a whipping too tonight. Tony rolled his eyes. Yeah right, like that would ever happen.

There was some muffled talking on her end.

"Can ya wait ten minutes?" He hissed. She spoke again, and his expression darkened more if possible.

_Thanks Director. _Tony thought bitterly._ Thanks for getting him all good and pissed off right before he unleashes on my ass._

Gibbs flipped the phone shut, even though she was still speaking.

"You," he pointed at Tony, "plant your ass in that chair and do not move. Stay!" Gibbs unlocked the door, chucked the empty water cups into the trash, and stormed away. Tony let out a humorless bark of laughter. With Gibbs angry about Jen _and_ his teasing of McGee, he was pretty sure he'd never sit again. Tony glanced around the room worriedly. Maybe there was a secret trapdoor hidden in here that he had never noticed before…nope. He thought briefly of making a run for it, then figured if he did that Gibbs would have no problem gunning him down in the parking lot and taking his belt to his ass right there in public. No thanks. What if he went back to his desk? No, that was stupid.

"Good one, Tony, he'll never think to look there." Tony muttered sarcastically to himself. His eyes fell to the book, sitting there on the dark table like a shining white beacon. Hmm, he had an idea…

* * *

_**Thanks for reading! Please review!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thanks for all the reviews and alerts everyone! I really, really do appreciate them :D**_

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* * *

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Not more than five minutes later, Gibbs stomped back into the conference room and slammed the door, locking it again. Tony was sitting in the chair as ordered, trying to look innocent. Gibbs didn't elaborate on what the reason was for his departure, and Tony didn't bother to ask.

"Sorry," Gibbs muttered.

"What?" Tony blurted. The shock of Gibbs' seeming random apology sent all traces of respect scattering from his tone.

"For makin' you wait." Gibbs said. "That's not how I wanted to handle this."

"Oh. That's…okay, boss. I guess."

"Up and over the table, Tony."

Part of Tony exhaled in relief. Gibbs didn't seem to be on the verge of throttling something anymore. At the same time, he was mildly terrified of the coming whipping. He stood, though, with no argument, and leaned over the polished tabletop until his hips were against the table edge and his elbows were resting the hard, cold wood.

Gibbs reached for his belt, then frowned. He blinked, then tilted his head and stared at Tony's ass. A decidedly un-underwear-like bulge was in the back of his pants. Gibbs blinked again. What the hell was that? He hiked the back of Tony's button-down out of his jeans, draping it on the agent's back. He frowned when the lumpiness failed to disappear.

"Tony?"

"Yeah, boss?"

"Your boxers got corners?"

"Uh, no."

"What's in your pants?" Gibbs tilted his head in the other direction, bafflement quickly sweeping his irritation out the door.

"You can tell?" Tony seemed genuinely shocked, if not mildly disappointed.

"DiNozzo," The reason for the odd shape of Tony's butt suddenly dawned on him. "Did you put the _book_ in your pants?"

"Uh…" Tony lifted his head. "You mean in this context?"

"Get it out." Gibbs' voice was colder than the winter air off the Atlantic. Tony winced and hastily reached back and eased the hardcover copy of _Deep Six: The Continuing Adventures of L.J. Tibbs_ out of the seat of his pants.

"Unbelievable." Gibbs grabbed it from Tony's hands and the younger man winced when it was thrown down beside him on the table with a loud _boom_.

Gibbs reached again for his belt, but paused and glanced back at the book on the table. He picked it up and hefted it. It had a nice solid weight. And it was hardcover. It was a little thick and awkward to hold…but given the circumstances of the punishment, Gibbs figured it would do quite nicely.

"Boss." Tony looked up and twisted until he could see over his shoulder. "I can feel you scheming back there..." his face paled and he licked his lips. "What are doing with that?"

"Turn around, Tony."

"Wha—you're not gonna hit me with—." Tony watched in horror as Gibbs raised the book high, clutching it in both hands, before swatting it hard onto Tony's butt.

Tony grunted. He clutched the edge of the table with one hand, balling his other into a fist. "Boss!" He squeaked.

"What, Tony? Can't take it?"

_Swat_.

"You've been giving McGee crap all day."

_Swat. _

"Just think of it as poetic justice."

_Swat._

_ Swat._

Tony could hear the slight amusement in Gibbs' voice and he rolled his eyes. It didn't hurt too much, not really. The book was too ungainly to hold and the pages offered too much of a shock absorber to really make a powerful impact, but still! Tony clenched his teeth. "Point taken, boss." He muttered.

"Good."

Again the book landed beside Tony with a loud _boom_. He was about to stand, but instead his mouth dropped when he heard Gibbs undoing his belt.

"Your belt—what? What was the book for then?"

"You really think that was enough?" Gibbs said.

"It hurt!"

"Good."

"Boss!"

"The book was for trying to lessen the pain of my belt—of which you just made worse, by the way. Jeans down." The belt hissed as Gibbs tugged it free.

"No, boss, come on—let me leave them up?"

"Did that sound like a suggestion, Tony?" Gibbs yelled down at him. "Unless you want an even worse whipping, get 'em off _now_."

Tony quickly reached and unbuttoned and unzipped the thick denim jeans, shoving them over his ass and down to his knees. He felt the cool air drift over his bare thighs and semi-clad butt and was grateful Gibbs had locked the door.

"What am I punishing you for now, DiNozzo?"

"I don't know!"

"Think." Gibbs said firmly.

"For harassing McGee?"

"Very good. Did you stop harassing him when I told you too?"

"For a while." Tony squeaked.

"Did I say to stop harassing him for a while or to not harass at all anymore?" Gibbs asked.

"Oh boss, come on—you know McGoo and I tease each other!"

"I know. And a little ribbing now and then is fine. But I told you to stop—twice— McGee told you to stop, and you kept going. You were bothering your partner—not to mention it was getting damn annoying hearing all your puns!"

Tony flinched.

"Ah…boss, you can't spank me for being annoying. I'd never sit down again."

Gibbs snorted. "Nah, not 'never' Tony," his voice was soft, "but the point is, you didn't stop when you were asked _and_ threatened _and _ordered to."

Tony groaned in his throat, and Gibbs saw him brace himself, his left hand clenching around the table edge and his other gripping itself in a fist. Gibbs doubled up the belt and rested his left hand on Tony's back. The younger man tensed and Gibbs swung down.

_Thwap! _The tense muscles hardened under Gibbs' palm, and he instinctively rubbed back and forth. _Thwap! Thwap! _

Tony shrieked a little as the fire built up on his cheeks. He gripped the table edge harder, wondering vaguely if the wood would crack off in his hand.

_Thwap! _

Tony growled and nearly stood upright, but Gibbs' hand kept him clamped in place. "Bos—!"

_Thwap! Thwap! _

"Boss!" He wailed, "Ow! Fuck it hurts!"

_Thwap! Thwap!_

"I'm sorry!" He gasped at another lash and slammed his fist into the tabletop. Surely the force of the leather belt had shredded his boxers by now.

_Thwap_! Tony let out a strangled squawk as the sobs tangled in his throat. Tears washed down his face and dripped onto his sleeve. Two more cut across his butt and he yelled loudly, more tears springing from his eyes.

Gibbs dropped his arm after the twelfth lash, letting the belt dangle. Tony brought his arms around his face and cried softly into them.

"Sh…" Gibbs rubbed some more, soothing the tension from the muscles. "We're done, DiNozzo…hush."

"S-sorry, b-buh-boss." Tony murmured.

"You're forgiven, Tony." The warm hand lifted off his back and gripped his bicep, pulling him to his feet. Tear tracks stained his cheeks and his eyes were red at the edges. Tony wiped his sleeve across his face. Gibbs slid _Deep Six_ across the table towards him.

"Wouldn't want to forget your book."

"Haha, boss…that really hurt." Tony reached down and fixed his pants back in place, hissing as the material rubbed on his tender butt.

"Uh-huh. I bet McGee was really hurt with you teasing him mercilessly. Don't let it go too far next time, Tony." Gibbs reached up and smoothed his fingers through the short hair.

"Yes, boss."

"Take a minute in the bathroom if you need it, then get back to work on your report." Gibbs squeezed Tony's shoulder and headed for the door, re-threading his belt as he went. "And apologize to McGee for acting like an ass!" He growled.

Tony grinned and nodded. "I will, boss."

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_**One more chap after this...****reviews are delicious!**_


	4. Chapter 4

"McGee." Tony stood in front of Tim's desk not fifteen minutes later. He'd washed the redness from his face as best as he could, but he knew traces of it still remained. It was obvious he had been crying, and if he was honest with himself, he didn't really mind McGee knowing what Gibbs had done. He _had _been pretty obnoxious.

Tim looked up expressionlessly.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry I was an idiot to you. I'm sorry I made fun of you for being a writer…it's actually you, know, kinda cool. I should've handled my problems in a better way."

McGee stared up at him, wondering just how hard Gibbs had hit him to change his attitude so thoroughly. "Boss helped me realize what "an ass" I was being." Tony gestured to Gibbs behind him and gave Tim a little half-smile.

Tim nodded, flicking his eyes to Gibbs, who was sitting at his desk listening to the proceedings.

Tim grinned. "Apology accepted, Tony."

Tony nodded and went back to his own desk, grabbing his bag and coat.

"Hey, uh…" Tim said. Tony looked up expectantly.

"Ziva and I were talking about going to grab a drink or something, with Abby too. You wanna come?" McGee looked at Tony and Gibbs, aiming the invitation at both of them.

"Sure, Probie." Tony said. He slung an arm around Tim's shoulders. "As long as I don't have to sit."

Gibbs got up and flipped of his light, following his agents to the elevator. It seemed like things were going to be back to normal.

For a while anyway.

End.

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**_Thanks sooo much for the reviews/alerts everyone!_**


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